Chapter 77: Mystery in the Deep Palace
Concubine Yun was particularly dissatisfied with Concubine Chen's demonstration.
"Who is she trying to show off to?"
The queen was obviously very angry.
Her breathing became increasingly rapid. She couldn't help but touch her chest, staggered back two steps, and sat on the chair.
Judging from her expression, she must have had a heart attack because of the anger she caused by Concubine Chen.
The concubines immediately surrounded her and asked about her condition.
Yaopin stood outside the crowd and shouted to the palace servants, "The Queen is having a heart attack. Go and call the imperial physician!"
"Don't go..." The Queen tried to stop him with a weak force, frowned and shook her head.
"It's a happy event that Concubine Xiao is pregnant. Don't make a big fuss and let the emperor know that I and Concubine Chen have had another argument. This happy event will cause the emperor a headache again."
Ying Fei said: "How could the Empress have had an argument with Chen Fei? It's obvious that she was just bullying others too much! It's good to let the Emperor know that she bullied the Empress, so she should teach Chen Fei a lesson!"
"I told you not to go, so don't go!" The Queen was obviously a little anxious, and her face began to turn red.
Fortunately, Shuang Ruo brought pills that could relieve heart disease with her. She took them out and asked the queen to take them with water. She then kept stroking the queen's chest to help her breathe.
After a while, the queen's condition eased a little.
She let out a long sigh and said, "Only when the harem is harmonious can the emperor concentrate on handling state affairs in the front court. Please don't let the emperor worry about this little thing."
Song Zhao watched at first glance and had no idea whether the queen was really sick from anger or she was just pretending to be nice in front of everyone.
After all, this incident only solidified the reputation of the Empress as virtuous and the Concubine Chen as arrogant and domineering.
Later, the Queen told Concubine Xiao to have a good rest and then returned to the palace.
On the way back to the palace, the queen sat in the sedan chair, while Shuangruo walked along the outside of the sedan chair, accompanying the queen.
In winter, the sedan chairs are sealed tightly to prevent drafts.
The queen felt a little stuffy, so she lifted the curtain to get some fresh air.
Shuang Ruo was still angry about what happened just now.
She held it in for half the journey, and when the queen opened the curtain, she saw that the queen looked weak and felt even more distressed, so she couldn't help but say:
"The Concubine Chen is too arrogant. Your Majesty must teach her a lesson. Concubine Xiao almost killed her, and she could still pretend to be kind to Concubine Xiao, but she is like this to the Empress?"
She lowered her voice and moved closer to the sedan chair, and then continued, "I heard roughly what she said in Her Majesty's ear just now. What did she mean? Could it be that she thought that Her Majesty and Concubine Xiao were teaming up to harm her?"
The Queen was silent for a moment, then said, "The Concubine Chen saw that Concubine Xiao was pregnant, and the Emperor had exempted her from punishment, so she was angry and had no place to vent her anger, so she just showed off in front of me."
She rested her elbows on the window frame, and gently rubbed her sore temples with her index finger without the armor, and said with a little doubt:
"But I also find it strange. Logically, the Emperor has pardoned Concubine Xiao. If she had known better, she should not have said a word about the Meiyuan incident. But why does she keep dragging me along, repeatedly saying that she was wronged?"
"Perhaps she is just pretending to be nice?" Shuang Ruo thought for a moment and said, "After all, she was acquitted because of the royal heir's contribution, not because she is truly innocent. If this matter is just brushed aside like this, when the royal heir is born in the future, who can guarantee that the Emperor and the Concubine will not settle the score with her later?"
The queen nodded symbolically, and after a moment's silence, she said:
"The maidservant who served her was called Yinzhi, right? I remember that she was the one who took the initiative to ask the imperial pharmacy for the snake grass. The emperor has determined that this matter was an accident. The maidservant was her family servant, so she will probably be released. You keep an eye on the Ministry of Punishment, and when she is released, bring her directly to me. I will interrogate her personally."
*
At the same time, the excitement in Zhaochun Palace had also dissipated.
The concubine came to visit Concubine Xiao only because she was pregnant, so she had to come and announce the good news.
But most people still thought that she was the one who released the snake in the plum garden.
The concubines naturally kept their distance from such people.
In the past, Song Zhao pretended to be close to Concubine Xiao, so she stayed until the end.
Concubine Xiao waited until everyone had left before asking Song Zhao, "Can you trust me?"
Song Zhao was silent for a moment, then nodded slowly and said, "Of course I believe in you, sister."
The previous interactions made Xiao Guiren feel somewhat favorable towards Song Zhao. At the moment, Song Zhao was the only one she could talk to, so she got straight to the point and said:
"Someone wanted to push me out as a scapegoat. I did nothing from beginning to end.
I admit that when I knew that my face was probably like this because of the conspiracy of Concubine Chen, I thought about revenge on her. But later, when I calmed down, I thought that if I really harmed Concubine Chen and the truth was revealed in the future, Concubine Chen's family was so powerful that not only me, but even the lives of my mother's family would be in danger. "
Concubine Xiao became more and more excited as she spoke. She grabbed Song Zhao's hand and shook her head:
"I couldn't implicate my family, so I gave up the idea of revenge at that time. I really didn't do this! Believe me!"
"I said, I believe in my sister." Song Zhao held her hand and said in a firm tone.
At this point in the matter, Song Zhao was already 90% sure that this matter had nothing to do with Concubine Xiao.
But she couldn't tell Concubine Xiao directly. She suspected that the whole thing was a trap set by the Queen, so she could only remind her indirectly.
"In fact, the most abnormal person in the whole thing is Yinzhi. Without sister's instructions, she ran to the imperial pharmacy to get the snake grass for no reason? Now the emperor said that this matter was an accident. Yinzhi is sister's natural slave, she should be released soon and come back to serve sister. When the time comes, sister must find her and ask what happened."
Concubine Xiao nodded repeatedly in response, and then said angrily:
"That traitorous slave! When she comes back, I will beat her to death and get the truth out of her."
*
That night, late at night.
After winter, few people pass by the Thousand Carp Pond to the west of the Imperial Garden.
A while ago, the palace lanterns that were burning all night in this place broke down, and at night even the patrolling guards were too lazy to come.
But tonight, there was a woman standing by the pool.
The woman stood under the tree. The shade of the tree plunged her into darkness and her appearance could not be seen clearly.
Not long after, a eunuch sneaked over here and met the woman.
"Aunt, the matter has been settled. Yinzhi was disguised as someone who died suddenly from the torture, so no one will notice anything wrong."
"Well done." The woman took out a small brocade box from her bosom, weighed it in her hand, and handed it to the eunuch, "This is the reward that the queen promised to give you. Take a look and see if it's enough."
The eunuch smiled and said, "Thank you for the reward, Your Majesty. I will take the money and sneak out of the palace tomorrow with the water cart. I will never come back in this life. Please tell Your Majesty so that you can rest assured."
After he said that, he hurriedly opened the brocade box, but the moment the box was opened, a large piece of white powder suddenly flew towards him.
He inhaled only one breath and instantly lost consciousness, rolled his eyes and fainted on the ground.
The woman lowered her eyebrows to look at him, and murmured with a grim smile,
"My queen only believes that the dead are the only ones in this world who can keep secrets."
She kicked the eunuch who fell to the ground in the waist.
Taking advantage of the slope, the eunuch easily rolled into the Thousand Carp Pond, creating the illusion of drowning.
The woman watched the eunuch sink slowly, until there was no ripple on the lake.
Then he hurried away in the moonlight...
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